The Other Time
by connorperry42
Summary: Changed future. Chris succeeded in saving Wyatt now he's eighteen and thinking through his life. Is it better? Did he do the right thing?
1. Chapter 1

Changes: Piper dies when Chris is ten not fourteen in the original timeline. And also Chris has more powers than just orbing and telekinesis though I won't say which ones.

Not sure if I'll move past this chapter and add more. Let me know what you think.

-Charmed-

He thought it was normal. It was all he'd ever known. What toddler or child would think that they were different from anyone else in such a big area. It wasn't until he came across the boxes in the attic that he learned the truth.

Even then, he never said anything.

When he was little he used to have awful nightmares. Odd thing was, his family never knew. He slept ten feet from his older brother and yet no one ever heard him scream. He wondered why for a while until the memory came to him. He'd learned to shield the area where he slept so that it was sound proof and no magic could get in or out. That was a good thing seeing as he also started to gain powers as he got older. Well more than telekinesis and orbing.

The worst part had originally been what to call the twenty-three years of memories floating around in his head. Was it the first time? Was this the first time? He didn't know. He tended to call his memories the other time and the current time his life. He used to think everyone did that. Then he found the box.

It was confusing at times. Growing up with two sets of memories could cause a headache. Sometimes he would wake up and remember the day exactly as it had been for him the other time. As he'd go through the day he'd know some of the things that would happen and then other things would be different. Sometimes he'd find himself longing for that other time to be true because it seemed so much more pleasant. Then he'd remember what happened later in that other time and he wouldn't wish that anymore.

Sometimes he'd find himself day dreaming about life from the other time. He'd wish that he could be there, see those people again. Run through the underworld tunnels with his friends as they played a came of hunt and evade through the resistance headquarters. Could watch the older council members wanting desperately to yell at them to stop running only to bite their tongue because he was the founder of the resistance and he was playing as well. Sometimes he'd want to be back there, in the kitchen with his mother, learning to cook and getting into mini food fights only to end up laughing. Missing the way that his older brother would make time for him, comfort him, when their father would brush him off. He'd miss those things and selfishly wish to get to do them again.

Then he'd remember that the other time was only better for him. For the rest of the world this was the better time. So this was the time he lived in and that was the time he would go to at night. And then he'd wake up screaming and repeat the process.

He used to think it was normal to live with the memory of a life already lived stuck in his head and one life going on around him. It had never occurred to him that others weren't going through the same thing. He always just thought that the others preferred this life so they ignored the other and he was the odd one out. He'd kept his mouth shut not wanting to offend them. He believed this for eight years.

Then he found the boxes in the attic.

The boxes were full of things from his memories only they were sitting in the attic of his current life. The boxes were all labeled Chris but the clothes were far too big for him. There were pictures of the adult that he knew would one day be him only said adult was playing with an infant version of his older brother. It was weird to look at. The items that stuck out the most though were the engagement ring and the two pictures. One picture he remembered his oldest aunt taking of him and his mother after one of their cooking episodes. His mother had her arms wrapped around him and they were both smiling and covered in flour. The other picture was hand drawn. It was of him and his friends form the resistance. Three demons, two dark lighters, three other witches and him. One of the resistance members had drawn it of them when he was fifteen.

Smiling at the pictures he tucked them away in his pockets for a later time along with the ring. These were memories from the other time, the time he thought was just another option that fate had decided against. Now he knew different. The other time did exist.

It was later that night and for the following year when he remembered. Remembered coming to the past and saving his brother. Remembered dying at the hands of an elder's cursed blade.

The other time wasn't just fiction, something that could have happened had they made different choices. It had been real; he had lived it. He had done everything in his power to change it. And sometimes he wondered if he'd done the right thing. He would debate with himself if life hadn't been better back then, in the other time, until he looked outside at the busy, happy streets or he looked at his family who were happy and smiling, especially his older brother.

No he couldn't have that other life back for, as strange as it sounded, it was only a better life for him. The rest of the world was better off in this life and he would have to live with that.

On his tenth birthday he'd been assaulted with memories. He'd had them before but never this hard. Never this real. His mother, the center of his life in that other time, had been murdered. Not only that but she'd been murdered and he'd been unable to stop it. After that he'd been trapped in the manor alone with the body for two weeks. His father and older brother had been 'up there' on an extended training session, his oldest aunt had been out of the country with her family and his youngest aunt had passed away two days before his ninth birthday.

The house had been locked down and he hadn't been able to get out or call for help. He had tried to escape; he'd broken every window and door in the house. He'd tried spells and potions but nothing had worked. He had tried to patch up his mother but she had been too far-gone. The phones weren't working. He'd called for every family member with even a gram of white lighter blood but they hadn't come. Eventually he had passed out of sheer exhaustion curled up into his mother's body. Three days later his father finally came back with Wyatt.

He had awoken screaming and crying at that point only to look over and see his brother lying safely in the bed next to his. He'd rushed out of his room and threw the door to his parents room open only to sigh in relief as he looked upon his mother as she walked out of the closet.

"What are you doing here?" She'd asked.

He'd merely shook his head and stepped out, shutting the door behind him. She was still alive, those had been memories from the other time. Regardless he hadn't left his mother alone all day. Naturally that irritated the woman who did not appreciate having a constant shadow. Still, nothing his mother could do would shake him off. In the end the day had been thankfully uneventful and he'd gone to be that night happy that they never did celebrate his birthday because he didn't think he'd have been able to explain his actions properly if others had been there.

When he was younger he used to think that his family didn't spend much time with him because they didn't need to keep an eye on the children now that Wyatt was safe. He knew better now. They just didn't like him since they learned who he would grow up to be.

Regardless it led to a lot of time spent at magic school or the underworld. Places his family didn't spend a lot of time. Once he learned that his family didn't want to be around him because they didn't like him he decided that he didn't want to be around them either.

No one ever questioned where he had been or what he had been doing. He just had to make sure he was at the manor for family dinner and that he was in hid bed when his parents popped their heads in to look at Wyatt. Other than that he could do what he liked.

Before he found the box he'd spent his free time at magic school because it was a place his family believed he would be safe. They used to drop him off at the magic school nursery as a toddler and leave him there all day. He used to stay there until they came back. By the time he was four his sense of curiosity had gotten the better of him and he'd started to sneak out. Wasn't hard for a four year old with twenty-three years of experience to slip out of a room monitored by one adult.

When he started kindergarten he also started classes at magic school. Neither were interesting for him. He already knew everything in regular school and he was well versed in magic.

His family never knew of his boredom in school. One of two things would have happened if he'd have told them. They wouldn't have cared and left him where he was or they would have had him skip a few grades. He knew from the other time that skipping even one or two grades was a bad idea. He kept his mouth shut.

Instead of trying to get out of school he'd used that time to do as he liked. It was helpful that he received the power of astral projection two days after school started. It was also nice to know how to use that power due to his other memories. He used the hours he should have been in school to explore magic school. By the time he was eight he already knew the place better than anyone else alive. Turns out that endless hallway isn't endless, it stops eventually and branches out to other hallways but by the time it does everyone else had quit looking.

The abandoned hallways of magic school became his training ground. He filled the rooms with books, dummies, weapons, and potions supplies, furniture. It was his home away from home. He cloaked it with a spell and warded it. No one could go there without his permission. It was the one place he'd ever felt truly safe.

After he'd found the box and received the rest of his memories he started moving beyond magic school. He started going to the underworld.

It was on his seventh trip to the underworld that he'd run across someone from his memories. Lith. One of his friends from the resistance.

He'd changed the color of his orbs and passed himself off as a dark lighter. He and Lith became fast friends. Soon Lith introduced him to others, Kavish, Ordin, Bosh and Mintor. The ones whom he used to run around with – well at least some of them. The most important one to him was Carden. The two of them had used to be inseparable; they had been as close as brothers in that other time.

In that other time he and Carden had shared a room at the resistance headquarters. Their room had been right next to Carden's parents Shelf and Jasper. They had been kind dark lighters. They had taken him in and treated him as one of their own. They had made sure that both he and Carden had taken breaks and had the time to just be kids even in the middle of a war zone. They had soothed his nightmares and let him celebrate holidays with them. They had become his family.

He had even been listed as a son at their funeral.

But that had been the other time. In this time he had been nervous that Carden would want nothing to do with him. He needn't have been.

When he was fifteen Carden had learned the truth of who he really was. In the other time it had come out when his older brother had taken over the world but it hadn't mattered because anyone opposed to his older brother was part of the resistance demon or not. In this time Carden hadn't taken it too well. Still, they had made up, eventually. He just had to promise not to vanquish any of Carden's immediate family – unless lethally attacked – and Carden had to promise not to attack any of his immediate family – unless lethally attacked.

Carden's family had accepted him for who he was. It had been the first time that he hadn't wished to be in the other time. The first time he'd been happy in the life he was currently living.

Now here he was. It was his eighteenth birthday. He'd graduated high school two weeks ago. His biological family hadn't shown. Carden, Shelf, Jasper and Carden's little sister Ciara had all been there, cheering him on. They had taken him out to eat after. When he'd gotten back to the house his mother had yelled at him for missing his older brother's celebration dinner, his older brother had just gotten back from his sophomore year of college.

Today his parents had taken his older brother and gone to meet up with his family for weekend getaway to Disney land. He'd been left behind. They hadn't even thought to ask him.

In two days time, when they would come home, they would be greeted by an empty house and a goodbye note on the table in the entryway.

Signed Christopher Halliwell.


	2. Chapter 2

_One Day_

When she walked through the door she saw the note. She laughed openly. Chris wasn't going anywhere; the boy had nowhere to go. This was his family. He'd be back. She was sure that he'd be back.

Chris had gone back to the past to save his family because he couldn't live without them. There was no chance that he would stay away for long.

"What's that?" her oldest asked.

"It's a note from Chris"

"Chris?" Leo sounded confused. "Does he need something?"

"He says he's moved out" She answered.

"What!" That had come from Leo and Wyatt.

"Relax boys" she assured them, "Chris will be back"

"How can you know for sure" Wyatt wondered aloud.

"Easy," she shrugged, "We're his family"

 _One Month_

So he didn't come back as soon as she'd expected. He would. She was certain that he would come back any day now. After all they were his family. He had no one else to go to, nowhere else to go.

"Piper are you sure we shouldn't look for him?" Leo asked hesitantly.

She felt a little guilty. She knew why he was nervous around her. She had been a little short whenever the subject of her youngest son came up. But really, could you blame her? Chris was playing a very dangerous game with her patience.

"He'll come back Leo" she assured, "He has nowhere else to go"

"Right" Leo hedged, "but it's been a month…"

"He'll be back" she snapped.

She watched as Leo held up his hands in a show of peace and backed out of the room. Honestly, the man should never have questioned her on this. Still, she shouldn't have snapped at him. It wasn't his fault that Chris was being stubborn.

 _Two Months_

Alright, she could admit that he may not be coming back anytime soon. That didn't mean he wouldn't come back though. College would be staring in a month and Chris was never one to miss out on school. The boy practically loved school, always wanted to be there. If only Chris had been as interested in regular school as he had about magic school.

Regardless Chris had sent off applications for colleges in the area and he had been accepted into all of them. The boy just hadn't chosen which college he wanted before he decided to throw his little tantrum.

"Which one do you think he'd want?" She asked her husband as they were sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the mound of acceptance letter.

"I don't know" Leo admitted.

"Well if he's not here to choose then we'll just choose for him." She sifted through the pile until she pulled out the one she wanted.

"This is a local community college" Leo noted.

"Yes, it's one we can afford" Piper agreed.

"Piper" Leo sighed.

"No" She cut him off, "If he's too busy throwing his little hissy fit to choose for himself then he will live with the decision I've made"

"Why don't we just give it a little more time" Leo suggested, "Magic schools been talking about opening a college, maybe he'd prefer that?"

She sighed in irritation, "Fine. But if he's not back by the cut off date then he can pay for college himself"

 _Three Months_

So he wouldn't be going to college on her dime. She could live with that. It just meant that she had a bit more money available. She would go on a nice vacation with her husband once Wyatt was off to college for his junior year.

Or she might save it for Wyatt's fifth year because the way that boy was going at his schooling Wyatt would need at least five years, if not six, possibly seven. Wyatt wasn't the world's best student and that college was rather highly ranked.

It didn't matter right now though because they were moving Wyatt into his on campus apartment tomorrow and she had to finish his goodbye party dinner and cake. The whole family was coming over to spend one last night together.

"So any news about Chris?" Coop asked casually as they cleaned up the dinner dishes.

She grabbed the plate in her hand so hard it broke, "He'll be home soon enough"

"How do you know?" Paige queried as she brought in the last pan.

"Because we're his family" she replied giving her typical answer, "He has nowhere else to go"

Everyone had just nodded their head and left her to the cleaning. That was fine. She was used to it.

 _Four Months_

She might have to admit that Chris could be serious about this. She didn't get it though. If he wasn't living here then where was he? As far as she knew Chris didn't have anyone else to go to.

"Hey Wyatt?" She called out.

Sure enough seconds later her oldest son was standing in front of her. "What's up?"

"Did Chris ever mention anyone he used to hang out with?"

"You mean friends?"

"Yes"

She waited semi-patiently as Wyatt thought it over for a minute "Not that I can think of. I didn't really spend much time with him"

"Thanks"

He left and she reluctantly admitted that she didn't spend all that much time with Chris either. She didn't think any of them had that's why she'd called Wyatt, the two did share a room for almost fifteen years.

 _Five Months_

OK, he wasn't coming back. She could openly admit that now. It was time to start the search. She just wished the trail wasn't five months cold. She also wished that she had some idea of where to start.

Where had Chris spent his time before? She didn't know. She should know. As his mother she should know where her son spent his time and who he spent it with. When she found him that was something that was going to change.

"What about magic school?" Leo suggested.

"What about it?"

Leo shrugged, "He used to spend a lot of time there when he was little. And he took classes there for years."

Not really thinking that magic school would be of that much use she agreed anyway. They didn't really have any other leads to go on.

Turns out magic school was a bust. None of the teachers could say much about Chris other than that he was a quiet person who got perfect scores. While it told them nothing about Chris' location it did tell both parents that they had missed something.

Before they left the headmaster had talked to them and given them all of Chris' awards. Neither parent had known about this.

 _Six Months_

Half a year. Her youngest son had been missing for half a year now. She'd been searching for a month now and everything shed learned only made her more miserable.

First was the realization that no one in the family actually knew anything about Chris. Not who his friends were, or if he even had friends. Not where he had spent his time growing up. Nothing. Not a one of them could even answer what Chris' favorite color was or what his favorite food was. How could they not know? How could she not know? She was his mother.

Second was magic school. Chris had received just about every award the school had. He had set every record. It was a shock. Everyone had thought that Wyatt would be the one to do those things. Wyatt was the twice blessed. Chris was the neurotic child with only telekinesis and orbing as powers. How had Chris been so successful at magic school when Wyatt had practically flunked out of the place?

Third was that Chris' high school had still held the boy's diploma. Said that no one ever came by to pick it up. What was more disturbing is that the woman had required seeing her ID before giving her the diploma. When the lady behind the desk finally handed it over she had apologized, she'd just been confused. Turns out she had never been to her own son's school before – at least not for Chris.

 _Seven Months_

Darryl proved useless. Apparently Chris was an 'adult' and since he'd left a note the police couldn't do anything. She had no legal standing to force her son home. It didn't matter that Chris was a Halliwell and thus over half the underworld would be after the boy if only for the soul reason of his last name. The cops didn't care about that.

She had tried scrying and summoning. Nothing worked. She had even summoned her mother and grandmother in order to strengthen the spells used to force Chris home. She was still down a child.

Thanksgiving was over and Chris hadn't been at the table. It was a strange feeling looking over at the spot that had always held her youngest son and seeing it devoid of life. That shouldn't have happened. She was starting to learn that she had helped cause it to happen.

 _Eight Months_

The holidays had come and gone and still no Chris. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. Was this the universe's way of punishing her? Was it somehow telling her that no matter the time line she would only get to keep one of her sons? In the last time line it was Chris who had been the mama's boy – or at least that's how it seemed once he'd opened up to her. In this timeline was that Wyatt's job? Did that mean Chris wasn't allowed to be apart of her life?

Of had she driven him away?

 _Nine Months_

She thinks maybe it's her. Maybe she is the one who drove her youngest son from her. She had always thought that her relationship with Chris was set. He would be a mama's boy. He would dote on her. She'd taken that for granted and then she'd ignored her baby.

It had been a mistake. She had never meant to ignore him. It was just that… she couldn't stand to look in his eyes.

Logically she knew that the Chris who came back to save Wyatt was dead. That Chris was never coming back and would never get the happy life he'd worked so hard for. The Chris she had now knew nothing of that life. And yet, if one were to look into his eyes long enough, they could be fooled into thinking that they were looking into the eyes of the other Chris. The eyes of the Chris who had suffered so much at his own brother's hands.

She couldn't bear to look in those eyes. She'd stopped looking eventually.

 _Ten Months_

Darryl had come through eventually. Not with finding Chris. It seemed that the boy was good at disappearing into thin air. No, Darryl had found something else though. A tape of Chris' high school graduation.

She'd missed the event. She hadn't meant to. She knew that the other Chris, the one who had come back, the one who had died. Well, he'd never gotten to finish high school. The world had been destroyed before he'd had the chance.

Determined not to let the same thing happen to her Chris she'd planned on going to his high school graduation the day that she'd sent him off to kindergarten. How had she let herself miss it?

She queued up the video and pressed play.

There he was, sitting in the fourth row, waiting for his name to be called. She'd watched all the way up until they were about to call his name. She'd stopped the tape. She couldn't watch any longer.

 _Eleven Months_

She can admit it now. This was all her fault. Her son left because she hadn't bothered to care about him. She hadn't noticed he was unhappy. And he's gone someplace that she can't follow. She would though, if she knew where he was. She would follow him to the ends of the earth.

"He'll come home" Phoebe assured rubbing her arm.

"No he won't" She replied as she broke out of her sisters embrace and headed to her room.

She'd been doing that more and more lately, moving away from the others and locking herself in her room. Unless she had the manor to herself. Then she'd clean the place spotless and cook meals made to feed an army. She was fairly certain that every one of her family members had enough food in their freezers to feed themselves for the next five months.

All except for the one who she desperately wanted to feed.

Chris had always been a skinny kid. It was almost as though the boy had never been interested in food.

Ok, that's not quite true. She remembered exactly which meals her son ate. Dinner. The boy had always said he couldn't stomach breakfast. She didn't know why though. She would almost always find his lunch boxes full when Chris came home from school. When asked he would say that he had forgotten. How could Chris forget lunch when there was a time set aside just for that one thing?

Over the years she had made dinner mandatory just to assure that Chris had eaten something. It was the one meal that she was assured her youngest son would eat and she would not let him miss.

Now she couldn't make her little boy eat. The poor child was probably skin and bones. He could be starving to death.

She pulled out the ingredients for chicken cordon blue.

 _Twelve Months_

A year. It had been one year since she had found that note. She had been so cocky then. So sure that Chris would come back home in a few hours begging forgiveness. And she would have given it… eventually.

Now she would give anything to see her youngest again. To know he was safe. The worst part was not knowing if he was even alive.

They were all in the living room now. Her family had forced her. Said it would be good to spend a night in watching old home movies. She didn't agree. She knew that those movies would be missing someone. The same someone that was currently missing from the room. The same someone who had been missing on their trip to Disney land last year because she hadn't invited him.

As they sat watching the movies she could vaguely hear her niece say something about a dark lighter that had acted strange. She wasn't really paying attention. Paige would solve whatever issue the girl had. Paige was the mother after all and mothers are supposed to take care of their children's problems.

Someone switched tapes and she heard a name she never thought she'd hear on one of these things.

"Christopher Perry Halliwell" a voice announced.

There was cheering on the screen and she watched in stunned silence as her little boy waked across the stage and accepted the fake diploma being handed to him. He was smiling and standing still for a picture. Someone was taking a picture. She couldn't tell who it was. Probably just a hired photographer.

Did high school graduations hire photographers for such things? She didn't remember one at Wyatt's graduation. Or at Pepper's last week.

She grabbed the remote and skipped through the rest of the ceremony keeping a close eye on her son. Eventually the speaking ended and the graduates were set free. It was chaos for a while but she saw what she was looking for eventually. There standing off to the side was her son.

He wasn't alone as she'd thought he'd been. There was a teenage girl there along with a boy that looked to be around Chris' age. There was a woman who has hugging him and there was a man there. The man's back was turned so she couldn't make out a face. She silently willed the man to turn around. Maybe this was the person who had her youngest.

When the man did turn around she didn't even have time to analyze his face before Penelope shouted, "That's him! That's the dark lighter!"

Suddenly all eyes were on the fifteen year old who was pointing a finger at the television screen.

She was the first to react. Before she knew what she was doing she was on her knew in front of her niece grabbing the girl by the shoulders. "You've seen that man?"

"Yes" Penelope nodded enthusiastically. "But he's not a man. He's a dark lighter"

"A dark lighter?" Leo asked behind her.

It suddenly made sense. Her son hadn't left willingly. He'd been taken. By dark lighters. "Where? When?"

Penelope seemed a little scared and she could hear her sisters behind her trying to pry her hands from the teen. She wasn't going to budge though. She needed to know.

"Where did you see him Penelope?"

Penelope sucked in a breath, "In the underworld."

Voices went off all around, scolding the girl for her recklessness. She didn't care. She wanted answers. "Where in the underworld?"

"By the big market, near the bar that Aunt Phoebe killed the demon in last week."

She was getting closer. "When did you see him?"

"Two hours ago" Penelope answered hesitantly.

"What happened?" She heard Paige demand as she finally let the girl go. She paused in her leaving and listened. It might be good to know what kind of adversary she was up against.

"Well… I was just looking around the underworld because I'd heard of this big market that had a lot of things for both good and bad magic. I wanted to see if there was anything interesting there. I was at a booth when a couple of dark lighters realized that I wasn't a demon or one of them. They started to surround me. I was scared. Then that man broke through the others and held a cross bow up at me. He asked me who I was. When I told him my name was Penelope Halliwell he lowered the crossbow."

"He did what?" Phoebe asked in shock.

"He lowered the crossbow." Penelope repeated. "He made the others back away before looking straight at me. He said that I should leave and that I shouldn't come back. He couldn't guarantee my safety and honestly had no desire to."

"Then why did he?" She demanded. It didn't make sense.

"I don't know" Penelope answered. "I orbed out of there as fast as I could.

The second her niece was done talking she grabbed Leo's and Wyatt's hands and ordered Wyatt to orb. She didn't need to say anything else. Her oldest son would understand.

Seconds later she rematerialized next to her husband and oldest in the very marketplace that Penelope had described. Every demon and dark lighter in the place was staring at them.

Before anyone could make a move she blasted the first demon she saw, "Alright I need some information. You tell me what I want and I leave you alone. Are we clear?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" A voice demanded from behind her.

She turned and saw the dark lighter. The one from the video who had been hugging and smiling at her son.

"I'm looking for my son"

"He's standing right next to you" the dark lighter replied.

"My youngest son" she corrected, "The very one you kidnapped."

The dark lighter appeared to take offense at her words. "I have kidnapped no one" he stated.

"Do you know where Chris is though?" Leo asked before she could reply.

"I do" the dark lighter confirmed.

"Where?" she demanded.

It seemed to take forever for the dark lighter to answer her. She desperately wanted to blow the man to pieces but Wyatt was holding her arms down. Just before she broke free of her son the man finally spoke.

"I will take you to Chris" he conceded, "but you must promise that you will listen to everything we have to say before you act"

"Agreed." Leo spit out instantly.

She did not agree. But she would keep her mouth shut for now so long as it meant finding Chris.

The dark lighter offered his hand for Leo to take, "Come with me then"

Hesitantly all of them joined hands and let themselves be dark orbed away. The feeling made her sick when she rematerialized. How did they do this? It was a nauseating feeling. Must be the demon thing.

Before she could snap at the dark lighter for the uncomfortable ride she heard a voice she never thought she'd hear again. Abandoning her husband, oldest and the dark lighter she followed the voice into the opening of a circular cave.

There, sitting on a boulder next to a few other teens around his age she saw him.

"Chris!"


	3. Chapter 3

He doesn't know when he first realized that Chris wasn't coming home. It was earlier than his wife did. Still, when he first read the simple goodbye not he had thought that Chris would be back in a few hours, a day at the most.

He thinks it might have been after a month that he realized. When he tried to bring the topic up with Piper though she didn't want to hear it.

As the months dragged on Leo through that Piper was being stubborn but didn't say anything. Did that make this partially his fault? Not only did ne keep his mouth shut, he didn't look for his youngest either.

He knows it's no excuse. That there can never be a good reason for choosing to ignore one of your children. He knew Piper's reason. She couldn't stand looking in Chris' eyes. He had other reasons. He couldn't stand looking at his son at all.

It was his fault that the other Chris had died. He had left Chris alone to protect baby Wyatt and his youngest had been stabbed by a blade cursed by someone that he had brought into his families lives. He had been the one to bring Gideon into the trust of his family and it had cost them the other Chris' life and this ones future.

He can still hear the last words that his son spoke to him, before dying. The last thing he was made to promise a boy who had been taught that he couldn't rely on his father. The other Chris had told him to protect Wyatt and protect the future. And he'd done that. He just ignored this Chris in the process.

The only comfort he could gain from this realization was that this Chris didn't know that this was the second lifetime that his father had failed him in.

After twelve months he'd given up hope in finding his missing son. Chris was either hiding extremely well or… he didn't want to think about other possibilities. When the tape of Chris' graduation came on the screen it gained his undivided attention.

Everything happened so suddenly after that. One second he was sitting on the couch with the remainder of his family watching home movies and the next he was standing next to a dark lighter and his eldest in a cave in the underworld. And then he heard Piper say his son's name.

He hurried after the strangled sound and was rewarded by laying eyes on his little boy.

Oh how a year could change things. Gone was the skinny boy whom used to skulk around the house with his head down. This Chris was sitting tall, surrounded by others his own age, and there was a fire in his eyes. He hadn't seen that look in this Chris' eyes. That looked belonged to the other Chris, the one he got killed.

"Dad, What's going on?" he heard Chris ask.

He was about to answer but was beaten to it by the last person he'd expected.

"These people came to the market looking for you" the Dark lighter explained, "I think it's time we all sit down and talk don't you?"

The answer that was playing on the tip of Chris' tongue was obvious. It was clear that this boy wanted to say no in the commanding voice that he'd heard come out of the other Chris' mouth hundreds of times. Instead of the verbal response that he was sure would be forth coming however this Chris glared at the dark lighter for a full seven seconds before deflating and trudging over to join the group.

Chris met his eyes for a fleeting moment before sweeping his gaze over the rest of them. He couldn't stand to look into those eyes. There was such anger and betrayal in them. Instead he took in his surroundings.

They were still in the underworld. They were in a circular clearing surrounded by walls on every side except for the one tunnel they just came through. An interesting note is that the walls all had doors in them every few feet and windows, as though they were some type of dwellings. Was this some weird demon neighborhood? He'd heard of those but they weren't that common.

There were dozens of demons and, what he assumed were, dark lighters alike in the circular opening and ever last one of them were staring at the strange little group of one former elder, one witch, two witch lighters and one dark lighter.

"Let's take this inside" the dark lighter suggested.

He looked surprised by this idea until he noticed that the dark lighter was also looking at the others who were openly gawking at them.

"Fine" Piper bit out.

Chris sighed but stomped off towards one of the doors in the cave wall. He wondered how one could tell the doors apart until he noticed the little plaquards on the walls next to the doors. He was too far off to read any of them, except the one next to the door that he found himself walking through. And that was the one that he wished he couldn't make out.

It said 'PERRY'.

He felt as though he were going to be sick the second that he made out that plaquard. This dark lighter was a Perry. Was it just a sick coincidence? He hoped so.

"What's all this?"

He looked up and noticed an older female. She looked to be the one that had hugged Chris at the boy's graduation. The one who had openly taken Piper's place at such a public event.

"Dad decided to run a perfectly good day" Chris griped.

The woman seemed confused but it was the man who responded.

"They came into the market place blowing others up and accusing me of kidnapping"

Chris wasn't backing down. "So you're brilliant idea was to bring them here!?"

"This needs to be resolved" the man stated, "I've let you call the shots on this for a long time because you seemed able to handle things yourself. That was my mistake. I can see that now."

"Mistake?" Chris exclaimed confused, "What mistake?"

"This situation is eating you up inside" the woman cut in.

Chris scoffed, "I'm fine."

"No bud, you're not" the man said softly, "And as your parents it's our job to help you. This is a good place to start"

He could see the disagreement in Chris' eyes but the boy didn't get the chance to respond. Piper beat him to it.

"You're not his parents! Leo and I are"

At this both dark lighters shook their heads in the negative but it was Chris who laughed. A cold; sarcastic laugh.

It was the reaction of their youngest that quieted his wife, he was sure of that. He was grateful that Piper was no longer speaking because he's fairly certain that it was Chris' turn to talk now.

The woman sighed, "Let's all sit down in the living room. I think we have a lot to discuss"

No one objected though he could see that Chris wanted to, desperately. It was funny. When Chris was living with them he couldn't tell what the boy was thinking but watching his youngest now and all he could think was that he was looking at the other Chris. But he couldn't be because that Chris is dead and it's his fault.

He sat next to Piper on the far end of the couch and Wyatt sat at his mother's other side. Across from the little family was the male and female dark lighters with Chris in the middle. If he didn't know better he'd think that they were a family as well. But they weren't. That was his son sitting in between two dark lighters.

And it made his blood boil.

"Alright start talking" Piper demanded.

He could tell that she was losing what little patience she had left. He was bordering on snapping himself. He just hoped that he could last long enough to hear what possible explanation these two dark lighters had for kidnapping his little boy.

The male dark lighter sighed. "I think it would be best to start with introductions. My name is Jasper, this is my wife Sheif and we have three children. Carden is the oldest, Chris is…"

"Chris is not your son!"

That came from him. He had shouted that.

"I'm more his son than I am yours" Chris fired back.

He saw red. "I am the one who raised you, it's my blood running through your veins"

"It may be your blood in me but that is as far as our connection goes" Chris replied.

"You're our son" Piper argued, "We are the ones who clothed you and fed you, who put you through school. Who took care of you…"

It seemed that Sheif had something to say to Piper's outburst, "You did no such thing. It was Jasper and I who clothed and fed Chris, who took care of him when he was sick"

"That's a lie!" Piper screamed.

"ENOUGH!"

The new voice left everyone stunned. He had not expected for someone else to interrupt them.

"Carden" Jasper sighed.

"What are they doing here" Carden sneered at them.

"We came to get our son back" Piper answered.

"You already have your son." Chris replied.

He didn't expect that to come from Chris, "We came for you Chris. We came to rescue you."

"Rescue me?" Chris asked incredulously, "Rescue me from what?"

"From the dark lighters that kidnapped you" Wyatt answered.

"Nobody kidnapped me Wyatt"


	4. Chapter 4

**Just keep in mind that this chapter is written in Chris' point of view. When it mentions mom and dad it is talking about Shief and Jasper. He no longer considers Piper and Leo as his parents or even his family at this point.**

 **Also if you have questions feel free to private message me.**

 **Thank you and enjoy.**

Were they really that naive? Did they truly believe that the only reason he'd be sitting on a couch between two dark lighters was because they'd kidnapped him? He had never been kidnapped, in this time. Now if this were the other time kidnapping could be an option. Only the kidnapping wouldn't have been by dark lighters, it would have been by a Halliwell.

Now here they were, sitting on the couch across from him saying that they've come to 'rescue' him. Did he not leave them a note? Did he not tell them goodbye? He thought he had been very succinct in his note. They had left him alone for a year. According to Grandpa Piper hadn't even been looking for him, insisted nothing was wrong. So what were they doing here now?

"Let's just start over" his mother suggested.

It had taken a while for everyone to get past the blow up of his last revelation. In the end the screaming had brought Ciara out of her room, Piper had tried to blow his sister up upon seeing the black orbs so naturally he had thrown her against a wall. In the end Wyatt had put up his shield around Piper and Leo and he'd put up his own shield around his family. He also noted the three looks of shock he received upon revealing that little power.

Once everyone calmed down they'd all retaken their seats. The Halliwells on one couch and he and his family on the other. Ciara was sitting on his far left with his mother next to her, he was in the middle between his parents, his father on his right and Carden on the far right end. It was cramped but none of them were willing to move.

"We don't need to start over" Piper bit out. "What we need to do is admit who we are and then go our proper ways"

"What do you mean?" Ciara asked.

His sighed, for someone who had just been attacked Ciara didn't seem to care that she was addressing her would be murderer.

"I mean that you all are dark lighters and my son's are half white lighter. The two groups don't really get along" Piper said snappily.

"We're all lighters" Ciara replied in that voice that had always made him want to smack her.

"Lighters?" Wyatt asked.

He could feel his siblings shift a little uneasily. This was one of his words, well, not really, but he had taught it to them. It was a word that came from the other time. The Halliwell's didn't know that he knew about the other time.

"Dark _lighter_ , white _lighter,_ witch _lighter_ " he explained slowly.

"We're all lighters" Carden finished.

He, Carden and Ciara all smirked. This was one of their little jokes. It used to irritate their parents but eventually they came around. So long as their children didn't purposefully seek out other white or witch lighters.

"That's ridiculous" Leo commented.

He shrugged, "It's the truth"

"You can't bend words like that Chris." Leo scolded.

"Word manipulation is how one does everything" He replied. And it was. Just look at the spells written in the book of shadows.

"That's beside the point" Piper cut in, "What I was saying is that you all" she gestured to everyone on his couch but him, "are _dark_ lighters and Chris is a _white_ lighter…"

"I'm a witch lighter" he corrected.

"What?" Wyatt asked.

He could see Piper snap her mouth shut and knew that she had wanted to say something else, "I'm half witch, half elder. I'm a witch lighter"

"Well, wouldn't you be a witch-er" Ciara commented.

"Or a eld-itch" Carden threw in.

"Oh…" Ciara said excitedly, "How about a wider?"

Piper, Leo and Wyatt were glaring. His mom and dad were slightly irritated. But he was smiling a little. His siblings were the best at times. They knew he was uncomfortable and were always willing to help diffuse a situation. He also knew that the only reason his parents hadn't thrown them out of the room for their side tracking was because they were currently making him smile.

"We agreed to let the two of you stay because this involves your brother…" his dad started.

"Chris is NOT their brother!" Piper almost screamed.

His dad ignored the outburst and continued on. "However if you two don't stop interrupting then you will be sent out"

"Yes sir" both his siblings answered admitting temporary defeat.

The room dipped into an uncomfortable silence once again. He didn't like this. He didn't like that his father had brought these people into his home, into his life once again. But he also understood why the man had done it. He also knew that no one was going anywhere until they'd had this out. And if he waited much longer Piper would try and take control of the conversation and he wouldn't get a word in.

"What are you doing here?"

Piper, Leo and Wyatt all directed their gaze towards him, eager that he hadn't yelled at them.

"I already told you we're here to rescue you from your kidnappers" Wyatt replied.

"And I told you that I wasn't kidnapped" he returned, "So, I'll ask again. What are you doing here?"

"We came to take you home."

That was Piper. And she sounded determined.

"I am home"

His parents each took hold of one of his hands. He appreciated the silent support he could feel coming from them. He could also see how this action infuriated those on the other couch.

"Chris" Leo began, "You're sitting in a dark lighters…"

"Will you stop calling them that" he bit out, "They have names. Use them"

"The only name I have for them is the kidnappers of my youngest son" Piper answered.

"They didn't kidnap me. I went to them."

"Why would you do that?" Wyatt asked.

Wyatt seemed truly baffled as to why he would choose to live with these people, in the underworld. How could he explain? How could he truly get them to understand without revealing his biggest secret? Then again, what was the point of keeping that secret? Was it solely to spare the feelings of the Halliwells? His family already knew the truth.

"Because I missed them" He said.

"Missed them?" Piper exclaimed, "How could you miss them when you've never met them before?"

"But I have met them before" he answered, "I've spent years with them. I've celebrated birthdays and holidays with them for years. I was at their funeral…"

His mother wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. She knew this was hard for him to talk about, it always had been. Even if it was never to occur in this time line.

"How could you have been at their funeral if you're sitting between them?" Wyatt asked.

"Because they got to live in this time" he answered simply.

"This time?"

All three of the Halliwell's had responded simultaneously. He watched as curiosity played across their faces. Then he watched as two of them figured it out.

"No"

Figures, Leo was never one to believe him.

"Yes"

"How long?"

He sighed. Should he answer? He was the one who started this.

"I've always remembered"

It was true. He didn't know when it had started just that the memories had always been there. Except for the ones of his twenty-second year of life.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Piper demanded to know.

"Why does it matter?" he bit back.

"Chris"

He heeded his father's warning. It was only fair that he answered their questions seeing as he was the one who admitted to remembering that other time.

Sighing, he answered, "At first I thought it was normal – that everyone had two lives in their heads. When I found the boxes I knew better"

"Why not say anything then?" Leo questioned.

"Why bother?" he shrugged, "You all had already shown how you felt about me. Why tell you I knew how it was the first time? Why tell you that I know you hated me? Why tell you that I would rather be in the other time? What good would it do?"

They blanched. Well, Leo and Piper did. Wyatt had yet to be able to follow their conversation, not to say the man hadn't tried to interrupt they had all just chosen to ignore the blonde headed one.

"What do you mean, how we felt about you?" Leo wondered.

"How can you possibly wish to be in an evil time!? You helped to create this one!" Piper demanded.

He fidgeted. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be doing this.

His mother squeezed his shoulder softly, trying to provide comfort. His father placed a hand on his knee, which he now realized had been shaking uncontrollably.

Taking a deep breath he started answering the questions that had been asked of him. "I have the memories of the other time, I know what it was like growing up there. I had a mother who doted on me, a father who despised me, an older brother who would do anything for me though he was a bit over protective. I had aunts who were busy with their own lives. And a grandfather who took me in after my mother passed away."

"You still have a mother who loves you and a brother who dotes on you and a grandfather who would happily take you in" Piper argued.

"Oh, I know" he agreed, "They're just not the same people that they were in the other time."

"What do you mean?" Wyatt asked.

"The other time it was Piper who was my mother who loved and doted on me, in this time it's Shief." He smiled at his mother while ignoring Piper's outburst. "The other time Wyatt was the best older brother one could imagine… until he turned, and in this time it's Carden."

Wyatt cleared his throat before asking his question, "What about Grandpa?"

He shrugged, "What about him?"

"Whose Grandpa in 'this time'?" Wyatt continued.

"Grandpa is" he answered simply. Who else would be his Grandpa? "He's the one person from your family who didn't change between the two times."

And it was the truth. Grandpa had been there for him all his life in both times. The man had always been there for him. He was the one person whom Chris continued to speak to. He even had dinners with him on a weekly basis.

"Do you still talk with your grandfather?" Leo asked.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

He could see Piper ready to blow a top and knew from experience that it wasn't the wisest thing to encourage. The last time he'd gotten Piper this pissed off he'd been kicked out of the manor.

"Anyway. Back to your questions. I preferred the other time because I had a family who loved me. Eventually I found a family here as well though." He smiled, "One I lost in the other time."

"You were tortured in the other time." Piper grit out, "Your entire family died, your fiancé came back to steal your powers and then take you back to the future where your older brother killed her"

"Yes" he agreed, those things did happen. "But I also had two families who loved me. A group of loyal friends and a place to call home. People who cared if I lived through the night. And a cause to fight for."

"Are you saying that you have none of that here?" Leo asked.

"No. I'm saying that for a long time I didn't have any of that. I found it eventually" At this his parents pulled him closer and he felt himself leaning against his mother. It was nice to have caring parents. "This last year has been the best of either time so far and I just want it to continue. Why can't you see that?"

"You're my son Chris" Piper stated, "And I'm sorry that you feel as though I don't love you. But that will change baby"

And with that everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

**So, there have been a couple of people arguing in the comments. While I don't mind comments, good or bad, I have received complaints on the argument. If you have something to say about the work then please do so but avoid commenting on what other's say. If you would like to tell me something personally private message me. And also if we could obtain from profanity in the comments that would be good. Thank you.**

The second he saw his son's head drop he was up trying to wake him. It took a minute before he noticed that Chris was not the only one not responding. Looking around him he saw the dark lighters all frozen with faces of pure rage showing.

"What…"

"I froze them" his wife answered simply.

"Chris can't freeze" his son wasn't evil, she couldn't freeze Chris.

"No" she agreed, "I used a sleeping potion on him"

Oh. Well, that made sense. "Why?"

"So we can take him home" she shrugged.

"Does he want to come home?" Wyatt asked.

"He's living in the underworld with dark lighters" his wife bit out, "Do you think it's safe to leave him here?"

No. He did not think it was safe to leave his son in this place. The underworld was never a safe place for a good being, especially not for a Halliwell. To add to that dark lighters were dangerous for white lighters (or witch lighters if he wanted to appease his youngest). He didn't want his son staying here.

He also didn't think that forcibly dragging the boy away was a way to engender trust between them all.

Was there another way? There didn't seem to be.

He could hear his oldest son and his wife arguing in the background but didn't feel like joining in. He wasn't really sure what they were arguing about at this point anyways. Was it still the sleeping potion or was it something else?

Standing, he decided to take a look around the place his youngest son had been calling home for the past year. Maybe he'd learn a bit more about his little boy.

The kitchen was simple but well stocked. He didn't know if it was the older female dark lighter, he thinks her name was Shief, that did the cooking or if someone else did. He found the answer on the fridge. There was a schedule of who cooked when. It looked as though every member of the family took turns making dinner throughout the week. That was a clever idea.

The fridge held other items. Hand drawn pictures that were clearly old. There was one signed Carden, that must have been the younger dark lighter male. There was another signed Ciara, he assumes that's the younger sister. The most disturbing one is the one signed Chris. It looked to be at least six years old. It showed a little house, possibly this one? In front of the house were two people he could easily identify as the 'parents' and in between those two were three little children. At the bottom they were all labeled as Mom, Carden, me, Ciara and Dad.

He wanted to be sick.

So this had obviously been going on for a lot longer than any of them had thought. Was this where Chris would spend his days? He had tried to find out over the past year – at least, once Piper had agreed to start looking. None of them could find Chris' child hood hangouts or friends. Turns out they'd been looking in the wrong places. To be fair, none of them honestly believed the underworld would be the place to look.

He moved on from there to find a little dining room. The table was set for what looked like a late lunch. Sandwiches were sitting in the center next to a pitcher of juice and a bowl of fruit salad. Someone had taken the time to fix this, prepared it for a family meal. A family meal that wasn't going to happen.

He didn't feel sympathy for the dark lighters. His family had missed out on so many meals this past year because of them. It was only fair that his family get to return the favor.

Leaving the rotting meal behind he moved on to the living room where his wife and eldest were still arguing about something. It sounded as though they were debating on what to do with the dark lighters. He didn't care just so long as they never bothered **his** family again.

The living room was filled with pictures on the walls. Pictures that showed a happy family of two parents and three children. He knew that it was all a lie. That Chris was not apart of that family. Looking up at those pictures though it would be a hard thing to argue.

There were family photos that went back almost a decade. There were school pictures of all three children hanging in rows along the walls. The only indication that one of the children was not true blood came in the fact that there were no pictures of Chris from before he was… 8? 9? Sometime in there.

Should he know how old his youngest is in the pictures? He thinks he should. He doesn't though.

Leaving the living room, as it was getting too loud what with all the shouting, he walked down the hall filled with doors. This must be where the bedrooms are.

The first door on the right contains a large bed and two dressers. He thinks this is the 'parents' room. It doesn't interest him. What does interest him are the cards on the dressers. There's three on each.

He opens the cards on the first dresser. On the outside they all say 'Happy Mother's Day' or some variation of it. One card is signed _love Ciara_ another is signed _I love you always, Carden,_ the last card is signed, _You're the best mother ever, love Chris_. He tears the last one in half and leaves the room. He doesn't need to see the cards on the other dresser. He can read the outsides of them and knows that they will only upset him more.

The first door on the left is a dark pink/purple and there are girls clothes scattered everywhere. He moves on. The next room on the left is all black and contains posters for bands he's never heard of. Is this his son's room?

Stepping in the first thing he notices is a crossbow tucked behind the door. He doesn't think this is Chris' room. It does bother him that there is a dark lighter's crossbow so close to his family.

Back in the hallway he opens the door at the very end. It's nothing more than a bathroom. He moves on to the last door on the right.

He knows that this is the room his child has been sleeping in. He knows that this room will give him some insight into his youngest. He knows all of this and that is why he's terrified of opening the door.

Slowly he manages to make himself turn the handle and push the door open. He has to go in there, if for no other reason than packing anything Chris might need or want. Because they were taking the boy home with them, of that he was sure.

The room was a dark blue. There was a single bed tucked away in the corner with a window facing into the back of the little 'neighborhood'. There was a desk with a laptop and a book bag. Books were scattered all across the room despite the numerous bookshelves that had been brought in. There were clothes hanging out of the dresser drawers and a chest of weapons and potions at the foot of the bed.

It looked nothing like the room Chris had shared with Wyatt for so many years. That room had been kept immaculate (well Chris' side had. Wyatt wasn't one for cleaning). This room looked lived in, as though someone actually spent time in here. Enjoyed their time here.

Sighing he grabbed the book bag and shoved the laptop in. It was only as he grabbed the papers laying around that he noticed the college paraphernalia. So Chris went to college. Stanford in fact. How was Chris affording it? He knows that Piper hasn't received any bills.

The one thing that troubled him the most about the college papers was that they were all signed Chris Perry. The name Halliwell was nowhere to be found.

He takes that back. He sees Halliwell written on a paper at the bottom and hurriedly pulls it out. Then sighs.

Chris had written a paper on the lineage of a famous magical family. It was clearly for a class assignment. Looks like his son was attending two colleges. One being Stanford, the other magic school. How was Chris handling both? Did he want to know the answer?

Regardless of his feelings he still packed everything up knowing that his son would need these things if Chris planned to continue with college. He did wish he knew what grades his youngest received.

The clothes looked different. He had never seen his son wearing clothes like this. They were smaller than what was in Chris' closet back home. There were a lot of pieces that held the name or insignia of some type of band, show or other. He didn't always keep up with popular culture.

He packed some of them but not all. After he had the school things and the clothing packed he looked in the chest. He didn't like what he saw. The chest contained a lot of weapons and potions, some of the items he distinctly remembered packing up in boxes in the attic years ago. How did Chris have them now? Had the boy found the boxes? He hoped not but looking at the pictures and ring buried at the bottom he knew that his youngest had.

Sighing he took out what he thought Chris might want and left the rest. There were no weapons packed, he didn't want his son to have to do any more fighting. The poor boy had done enough of that for ten lifetimes.

Finished packing he took the bags and moved to the living room where there were only three people. Two were standing and one was sleeping. There were also four piles of ash.

Something had happened. Did he really care what?

No. He didn't.

"What's all this?"

He jerked his head up to see his wife watching him intently.

"I packed some of his things. His school supplies, clothes, you know."

"School supplies?" Wyatt querried, "I didn't know he was in school"

"Apparently Stanford and magic school" he answered.

He could see the shock on their faces and assumed that it must have mirrored his own when he had found out. They truly knew nothing of the youngest member of their little family. That would change though, they'd all see to it.

"Are we ready?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"I suppose," Piper sighed.

"He's going to be pissed when he wakes up though" Wyatt added.

"Why?" Ok. He knew that his son wouldn't be happy to be back at the house but didn't think it would be a major issue as soon as Chris realized that they had recued him. That this was for the best. That he was home with his family.

"Because mom bound his powers" Wyatt answered.

"I'll unbind them as soon as he's settled Wyatt but I can't have him orbing away as soon as he wakes up. Besides we'll keep him safe"

The way she'd said it sounded guilty to him. As though they had failed in that area. They had though, he knew that, they all knew that. They were going to change all this. They would bring Chris back to them, of that he was sure.


	6. Chapter 6

**I know that this is short but it is also the end of the story. I wanted to finish it. This was only ever meant to be a one shot so in the long run you got a heck of a lot more than I was every planning. Thank you to all my readers and as always if you have a question then please message me. Enjoy the end and Merry Christmas.**

Four years. It had been almost four years to the day since they had rescued his little brother from the dark lighters. Yet at times, it felt as though it were merely yesterday.

When Chris had woken up on that first day he hadn't been pleased. His little brother had spent hours screaming his lungs out for the dark lighters. No matter how many times one of them explained that the dark lighters were dead and that Chris was now safe the youngest member of the family refused to stop screaming. He thinks that if Chris hadn't screamed himself hoarse he never would have stopped.

After that day Chris didn't say a word for a long time.

It hurt. Not hearing his little brother's voice. Knowing that Chris could speak but was pointedly refusing to speak to any member of his family.

Still, things were better than they had been; until Grandpa showed up.

Three months after Chris had been rescued and Grandpa had knocked on their door. Mom had been pissed. She had screamed at Grandpa for hours. The only reason Mom stopped was because Chris came bolting down the stairs.

 _"Grandpa!" Chris had screamed, running over to the man and giving him a hug._

 _There was a look in Mom's eyes as she watched her youngest that showed of a heartfelt pain and he heard his father mutter 'not again' when he saw them._

Not long after that Grandpa was thrown out. His mother had forbidden the man from coming anywhere near the house of her family again.

That lasted all of two weeks before Mom had to relent, if for no other reason than to get Chris to eat anything again.

School had been the only thing that Chris hadn't fought his family on. Chris had been more than willing to continue his education and going to college got Chris out of the house on a regular basis. He truly believes that Chris kept up such a hectic workload in order to spend as much time away from the family as possible.

The one thing that made everyone nervous was that Chris continued going to the magic school's college. Even though Mom had bound Chris' powers it apparently only worked on the powers that she knew about which was the telekinesis and orbing. Thankfully that was enough to stop Chris from leaving if for no other reason than without orbing Chris couldn't travel easily.

Chris' last name had caused many battles though.

When Chris had left at eighteen he'd had his last name legally changed to Perry – the dark lighters last name. When enrolling in both magic school college and Stanford Chis had his name listed as Christopher Perry. For some reason his baby brother wanted to continue using this name.

Naturally he and his parents put up a fight but in the end Chris was legally an adult and they could not force him to change his name. No matter what they promised or threatened Chris' last name remained Perry.

As the years went on Chris threw himself into his schoolwork. His little brother spent all his free time at the library or locked in his bedroom.

He didn't see his brother as much as he'd want to for the first few years because he was in college as well and he lived on campus. Still, every break, holiday, and a lot of weekends were spent at the house trying to get through to his brother. Well… at first most of his time was spent that way but as the months and years dragged on and Chris showed no signs of wanting anything to do with his family he stopped coming to the house as often.

In the end he graduated college the same year that Chris did. Was it bad it took him two years longer to complete college than his little brother? Didn't matter.

Once he graduated Chris had tried to move out and get a job on his own. His family wouldn't allow it. In fact his mother had slipped his little brother a power-binding potion the day _before_ he graduated from magic school. Sneaky really, everyone was expecting her to do that the day _after_ he'd graduated.

Regardless of when it happened Chris was still stuck at the house.

According to his mother he and Chris were welcome to run the club for her. Chris had no interest. Didn't matter though because Chris was either working for Mom or not working at all. Either was fine with Mom.

In the end Chris had taken a bartending job from Mom and then the after hours clean up. It kept his little brother at the club from about noon until five or six in the morning on most days and that seemed to be how Chris liked it.

Today though his little brother seemed different.

When he woke up Chris was in the kitchen making a massive breakfast. He didn't even know his little brother could cook. Apparently neither did his parents.

"Chris!" his Mom had exclaimed, rushing over to the stove only to stop in shock when she saw that nothing was burning.

"This is an amazing spread." Dad had complemented, "Why didn't you ever say you could cook?"

Chris had just shrugged it off, "Not a big deal"

Breakfast had been reasonably pleasant. There had been no awkward silences and Chris had joined in the majority of the conversation. It felt like they were all one happy family.

That whole day Chris had stuck close to the house. He didn't know what was going on with his brother but he wanted to take advantage of it. So all day had been a family day. They'd played board games, had a picnic lunch at the park and then Chris and Mom had made supper together before ending the day with a movie night.

The following morning, when he woke up he and his parents found a letter on the kitchen table.

It was from Chris.

Yesterday was his twenty-third. Last night his 'other' self caught up with him. The power binding was broken.

His Mom and Dad had grabbed each other crying.

It was in this moment that he knew he would never see his little brother again. They had destroyed their first chance when Chris came to the past. Demolished it when Chris grew up this time. Their last chance was a train wreck from the beginning when they killed the dark lighters. There would be no more chances.


End file.
